As experience has shown, attempts are made to illegally reach through the dispenser opening into the automat, for example to prevent coins or goods from passing to their rightful owner and to seize them for oneself, or to obtain access to coins or goods not as yet dispensed by the automat.
For example, attempts are made to plug up the end of the coin return and/or issuance duct by a foreign body, e.g. a piece of elastic foam material, and to remove the foreign body after some time, so that all coins that have accumulated in front of the foreign body in the meantime will drop into the tray. Also, access is attempted to the coins present in the automat for issuing residual money or change, or to the articles or to the trigger mechanism for issuance of such articles, in order to remove coins or articles and/or trigger their issuance.
In addition to representing a property crime, such steps, even if unsuccessful, frequently result in operating disturbances and damage to the automat, particularly if tools or other auxiliary means are utilized on account of the cramped spaces making such interventions difficult.
The dispenser opening is the only opening of the automat housing which, in accordance with its intended use, must have a size adequate for reaching into it. Thus, it practically offers itself for abuse while, for example, coin insert slots, and slots through which, e.g., drive-through tickets are issued, are so narrow that they do not permit access into the interior of the automat.